One Night with Morelli(67)

                ‘Maybe you shouldn’t be too complacent about this custody issue; courts can be unpredictable.’

                He looked thoughtful. ‘You think I’m complacent?’

                She thought he was gorgeous. ‘There’s no harm taking precautions.’

                He nodded slowly.

                ‘Look, if you want them to carry on thinking that we are…together in the short term, obviously while we are still…’

                ‘Having sex?’

                ‘If we are still having sex?’

                ‘For Josie’s sake?’

                He was not making this easy. ‘For my sake,’ she admitted. ‘Then that’s fine. If, of course, you are up for it.’

                ‘Come here and I’ll show you how up for it I am.’

                It took very little persuasion to make her fall into his lap.





                                      CHAPTER TWELVE

                EVE WAS APPLYING a final sweep of mascara when Hannah swept into the room. She spun her stool around to face her friend, who was already in full regal evening dress, the empire line not quite disguising her pregnancy bump.

                ‘How is Kamel?’

                ‘Oh, fine, according to him.’ Hannah’s eye roll could not disguise her concern for her husband’s health. ‘But in the real world he has a temperature of a hundred and two and looks like death warmed up in a gorgeous way… He’s impossible! Why can’t he do man flu like every other man instead of…? God, but I wish I could stay with him.’ Her friend took a deep breath, pasted on a bright smile and muttered, ‘But duty calls and the doctors swear that the antibiotics should have kicked in by the morning. He’s very lucky it’s not pneumonia…and if he’d left it any longer…’

                ‘He’ll be fine.’

                ‘Of course he will…you have no idea, Eve, how grateful I am that you’re here. This is the first time I’ve ever done one of these things on my own and Kamel is the charity patron, so it matters just having a friendly face in the room. I hope I’ll—’

                ‘You’ll do amazingly, and I know you’re grateful because you’ve told me about ten billion times, which was unnecessary, as was the makeover. Or maybe it wasn’t,’ she admitted, glancing down at the designer gown she had selected from the rail of similar garments her friend had wheeled into the room.

                ‘You look stunning, Evie.’

                Eve looked up, a faint flush on her cheeks. A few weeks ago she wouldn’t have believed Hannah, nor for that matter would she have had the confidence required to wear the dramatic full-length red dress that clung to her body like a second skin, hugging her breasts, emphasising her tiny waist and softly curved hips before flaring at the knee flamenco style.

                Being with Draco over the past weeks had done that, had given her that confidence in her own sexuality and sensual allure. That was the plus, that and great sex, and his earthy laugh… The downside… She pinned a smile on her face and promised herself she wouldn’t go there tonight.

                Who was she kidding? She carried it with her like another layer of skin. She had fallen in love with Draco and she had to hide it, disguise it, bury it. There was simply no other way of dealing with this situation.